{"id":122289,"date":"2025-05-22T01:56:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T06:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=122289"},"modified":"2025-05-21T12:28:33","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T17:28:33","slug":"pickerings-detail-oriented-career-comes-to-a-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/05\/22\/pickerings-detail-oriented-career-comes-to-a-close\/","title":{"rendered":"Pickering’s detail-oriented career comes to a close"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Diane Pickering is a lifelong problem solver. For nearly 40 years, she\u2019s been putting those skills to use in the Human Genetics Laboratory. Soon, she\u2019ll have to find other ways to use those skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere’s lots of home improvements and things that I can spend my time problem solving,\u201d Pickering said. \u201cMy husband might not be too happy about that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pickering is retiring from Nebraska Medicine on Friday, May 23, after spending her entire 37-year career working in the lab at the med center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThirty-seven years is a long time to be in any one place,\u201d she said. \u201cSomething inside me just said it’s time. The lab is in a great place right now. There are a lot of new things on the horizon, and I just felt like it was my turn to step aside and let some new people take the reins.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pickering began her career on May 2, 1988, as a lab technologist trainee and then as a technologist. She\u2019d eventually grow into leadership roles, first as a supervisor and then as a manager for the past 10 years. She currently is the manager of the Warren G. Sanger Human Genetics Laboratory. It\u2019s a role that has additional special meaning to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Warren Sanger, PhD, who hired Pickering back in 1988 to work in the cytogenetics laboratory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really didn’t know how big of an opportunity that was until I started working and learning, and then the science of it kept me captivated,\u201d she said. \u201cWe developed new technologies, and we kept growing and it was an exciting place to be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Sanger and Bhavana Dave, PhD, are among the several mentors and leaders she credits with having a positive experience throughout her career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI truly appreciate all the leadership that I have had the privilege to work for,\u201d Pickering said. \u201cI\u2019m really thankful for the support they\u2019ve shown, the skills I\u2019ve learned from them and their guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The continual changes in health care and health sciences kept the work feeling fresh for Pickering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs the testing has evolved, my role in the lab has evolved. Even though I’ve been in the lab for this long, it’s really been an evolution of my learning and my leadership skills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 37 years, Pickering has witnessed plenty of changes, both in the work she has done and in her physical surroundings. Some of the key changes she recalls include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n